Ken Silverman@AIRTOUCH
01/16/98 10:04 AM
As mentioned before, taking your equipment in the original boxes is
usually not a good idea. When going 4M5X many times, everyone who has
a cardboard box is usually stopped, even if they are locals. For some
reason boxes are fingered out in most airports. Having to unpack a
box in the airport is not a fun thing. If you do ship with a box,
make sure you hand carry an extra roll of duct tape or something to
reseal the box. Actually, I hand carry a roll of duct tape with me on
all expedition flights. The stuff comes in real handy.
Traveling with boxes also has another problem: in many smaller
airports, they do not have covered luggage carriers, and your box will
get wet and disintegrate. Been there, done that. If for some reason
you must ship in a box, I would advise covering the box in
waterproof/repellent shipping material - kinda like burlap with a
coating. I dont remember where we got it, as its been a LONG time
since I used a box to ship equipment in. I use a combination of
hard-case Samsonite, and other misc hard-case things from the flea
markets.
As Trey mentioned, blending in is the key. Just be a tourist with a
lot of normal looking luggage, throw on a few diving stickers etc, and
you will often breeze through.
Anything that looks like a professional equipment carrying case also
has a higher tendency for being singled out, even when returning to
the USA.
Before you leave the USA, stop off at the customs office and register
your equipment with them. You will get this form (dont remember the
name/number) that says you bought the stuff in the USA. That way you
wont be hassled when bringing new-looking equipment back into the USA.
The form alleviates the need to have the sales receipts etc. I
usually plaster a copy of this on every piece of luggage that has
equipment in it. The form is good for life, so dont let an unknowing
customs person take the original from you.
73 and happy expeditioning.
Kenny K2KW
PS Got this tip from N6BT - hard-case golf club carriers are the BEST
way to ship your antennas! Nobody batted an eye at the 4 golf club
cases that we used for the 6Y4A antennas. These cases have wheels and
a few handles.
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